Quote of the week: “We still tend to conceive of national security almost solely as a state of armed readiness, a vast, awesome arsenal of weaponry… We are haunted by this concept of military hardware.” —Robert S. McNamara, The Essence of Security Whiffs of grapeshot and sarin gas are in the air – enduring conflicts in …
The Counterforce Compulsion in South Asia
by | 2017-04-12 | 2 Comments
Quotes of the week: “There has been literally no chance at all that any sane political authority… would consciously choose to start a nuclear war. This proposition is true for the past, the present, and the foreseeable future. For sane men on both sides the balance of terror is overwhelmingly persuasive… There is no prospect …
Syria: A Modest Proposal
by | 2017-04-09 | 1 Comment
Those of us laboring in the vineyards of nuclear nonproliferation are forced to learn, alas, at least a little about energy policy. If nuclear technology only were good for making weapons, and not also for electricity, our lives would be much simpler. Nuclear power is especially important nowadays, since it offers the only low-carbon form of “base …
Kerr on the JCPOA
by | 2017-04-07 | No Comments
My friend Paul Kerr — the original second blogger at Arms Control Wonk — has taken time from his day job to write an essay that focuses on the enduring value of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s prohibition on “activities which could contribute to the development of a nuclear explosive device,” a prohibition that permanently define’s the terms of Iran’s …
